About Us

For general inquiries, please send mail to PRG@Preussergroup.com or our diversified staff can assist you on a variety of topics. Please contact the staff member whose activities are most closely related to your query or comment.

David Preusser
David F. Preusser holds a Ph.D. degree in Experimental Psychology from Yale University. He began working in the area of highway safety in 1971 as a member of the evaluation team for the Nassau County (NY) ASAP and participated in some of the earliest NHTSA research in the area of drugs and driving. He was the Project Director for the Elmira Seat Belt Enforcement and Publicity Program and a series of studies dealing with young driver licensing. He is currently the Principal Investigator for NHTSA projects dealing with Buckle Up America and sanctions for convicted drinking drivers. Dr. Preusser is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Safety Research, is currently serving on NHTSA and TRB research committees, and is a member of the International Council on Alcohol, Drugs and Traffic Safety.

Mark G. Solomon*
Mark Solomon, Vice President, holds the M.S. degree in Sociology from Mississippi State University. He was a crash data analyst with the Florida Department of Highway Safety where he provided analytical support to the governor's office and legislature as well as state and local agencies. Since joining PRG, Mr. Solomon has studied crashes on the Washington DC Capital Beltway, interviewed truck dispatchers, studied fatal crashes involving air-bag and non air-bag equipped vehicles, and evaluated NHTSA's twenty-state belt use enforcement demonstration project. Currently, Mr. Solomon is directing NHTSA evaluations of belt use incentive grants awarded to more than forty states, Buckle Up America, Click It or Ticket in South Carolina, and the legislative change to primary belt use enforcement in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Oklahoma.

Neil K. Chaudhary
Neil Chaudhary, Vice President, holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the City University of New York (CUNY). While at CUNY, he taught statistics and experimental design and conducted research in the area of Terror Management Theory. Since joining PRG, he has analyzed national seat belt survey data and designed data collection plans for a study of suspended drivers in New York and newly licensed drivers in Tennessee. He has completed National Safety Council studies exploring the costs to Medicaid budgets for FL, MO, and VA. Neil is also involved in two separate projects for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety examining causes of crashes among elderly drivers, and among teen drivers. Neil has helped pioneer methods to allow nighttime seatbelt observations in all lighting conditions. He has completed 2 statewide nighttime seatbelt use surveys in CT and has evaluated a nighttime safetybelt enforcement initiative in Reading, PA.

Tara Casanova
Tara Casanova holds an MS in Population and Community Ecology from Southern Connecticut State University where she was employed as Adjunct Faculty. Ms. Casanova was also the director of a local research facility where her research was highly published and focused on ecology and population dynamics and distribution. Tara has worked as a consultant at PRG for five years prior to her full time appointment and has been involved in several projects including day and night CT seatbelt observations and DUI checkpoints in CT and WV. Tara is currently participating in the management and evaluation of a tri-state speed enforcement study for the New York City Metropolitan area as well as a seat belt enforcement study for Queens, New York. Tara is also involved in a multi-year project for the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) to evaluate a new program to more fully prepare teens for licensed driving.

Robert Chaffe*
Robert Chaffe graduated with a BS in Engineering/Telecommunications from the University of Mississippi. Since joining PRG, Robert has assisted on NHTSA evaluations of widely publicized law enforcement programs used to improve safety belt usage and decrease drunk driving. Robert is currently assisting in a study for The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety tracking behavioral changes of truck drivers with respect to hours of service rules. Robert also manages PRG’s data entry team located in the Oxford Office.

Emily Haire*
Emily Haire graduated from Saint Mary’s College in South Bend, IN, and earned her MA in Sociology at The University of Memphis. As one of the newer arrivals at PRG, Emily is working on an interview study for The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, the goal of which is to determine parental involvement in determining age of licensure, vehicle choice, and monitoring of driving skills for their teenage drivers. Emily is also assisting with a project to reduce breath test refusal among individuals who have been drinking and driving.

William A. Leaf
William A. Leaf holds a Ph.D. degree in Experimental Psychology from Yale University. He taught statistics at Carnegie Mellon University; developed computer and statistical applications training for NHTSA; and applied statistical analysis to NHTSA and state crash files. Dr. Leaf also directed our teen longitudinal survey. High school freshmen in four states were surveyed by telephone at six month intervals throughout their high school years. The surveys provided detailed information, over time, concerning their learning to drive, licensing and driving experiences. Other current and recent projects include: a study of racial/cultural factors in pedestrian alcohol crashes; a survey of Florida parents and students concerning their new "Graduated Licensing" law; evaluation of graduated licensing in California; and evaluation of "voluntary" graduated licensing in Connecticut.

Katie Ledingham
Katie Ledingham graduated with a BA in Communications from Central Connecticut State University. She has two years of experience working for the Connecticut Department of Transportation, Division of Highway Safety. She worked on both state and federal projects which included Connecticut's 157 plan and evaluation (innovative belt use initiatives) for NHTSA, MADD youth education initiatives and public information and education outreach to various CT communities. At PRG, Ms. Ledingham is now working on projects that involve seat belt use rates for Connecticut and New Hampshire, as well as Connecticut's sTEP Wave seat belt program.

William J. Nissen
William Nissen is a graduate of Michigan State University, and holds an MBA in marketing from New York University. He has extensive experience in market research and survey data collection and was formerly a product development manager for General Electric. Mr. Nissen assisted in the design and implementation of a telephone survey of New York drivers in support of the Thruway Buckle Up project. He also participated in a study of underage alcohol purchase and our evaluation of Community Traffic Safety programs and prepared case studies for a youth alcohol enforcement project for the Justice Department (sub-contract to the Police Executive Research Forum). Recently, he collected field data in support of studies involving the handling characteristics of tandem trucks, "red-light running," and false I.D. Mr. Nissen has conducted focus groups with SADD students and with motorists using the Capital Beltway. Currently, he is developing case study reports for our evaluation of Buckle Up America. He is also working on a project to evaluate some of the leading causes of certain types of crashes at intersections.

Julie Tison
Julie Tison obtained a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the City University of New York (CUNY) after getting her B.A. in psychology from McGill University in Montreal, Canada. She held a position as Assistant Professor at New York City College of Technology (CUNY). While at CUNY, she taught experimental methods, cognitive psychology and, industrial/organizational psychology. Before joining PRG, she did research on ambivalent attitudes, personality predictors of unhealthy/sedentary behaviors, and cultural differences in learning styles. Julie is currently involved in research for the National Academy of Sciences on technique to reduce speeding drivers.

Helen B. Weinstein
Helen Weinstein holds the M.S. degree in Science from Simmons College. She was elected to six successive two-year terms on the Trumbull (CT) Town Council where she has served as Chairman of the Finance Committee, Vice Chairman of the Council and Chairman of the Council. At PRG, in support of NHTSA and U.S. Department of Justice projects, she has conducted interviews with police officers, local program directors participating in child car seat distribution programs and state level traffic safety coordinators. Ms. Weinstein was the lead data analyst for our study of motorcycle fatal crashes, pedestrian crashes in Washington and Baltimore, car/truck fatal crashes, learning driver crashes and elderly driver crashes. Currently, for the Insurance Institute, she is conducting an analysis of crashes that occur at stop signs.

* - PRG South